


Death By A Thousand Cuts

by pixeljeno



Category: NCT (Band), NCT Dream
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Disturbing Themes, Emotional torment, Gay, Gore, Gruesome deaths, M/M, Moral Ambiguity, OT7 NCT Dream, Physical Torment, Renjun and Jeno get themselves into some deep shit, Renjun and Jeno know each other, Severe bodily injury, Themes of suicide, Threats of Violence, all of nct dream are subject to lots of brutality, don't take any of the tags lightly, everything is being livestreamed, lots of death and dead bodies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-28 15:55:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30141975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixeljeno/pseuds/pixeljeno
Summary: Equipped with prior knowledge from his time spent as a viewer, Renjun volunteers to become a participant in a vile game where the only way to win is to survive a series of deadly challenges and be the last person alive. Renjun thinks he‘s got a fair shot, but after he sees a familiar face among the other participants, he slowly begins to realize just how far the Gamemakers are willing to go to ensure that Renjun’s torment won’t just be physical.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Death By A Thousand Cuts

The sound of a siren wailing startles Renjun out of his peaceful, dormant state. His head jerks around as his eyes scan the grungy room that reeks of a putrid stench so unbearable, he nearly throws up in his mouth. Renjun sits upright, immediately taking notice of the cold, wet feeling of his hand accidentally being placed into a pool of liquid. He withdraws it quickly as if he had touched a hot stove, and he looks down at his palm in the mucky green tint of the dim, flickering light. His entire hand is coated in a dark liquid which he presumes to be blood. Yet another wave of nausea crashes over Renjun, and he tries his damnedest not to vomit all over the floor. No. He couldn’t. It would make him appear weak and feeble. The last thing he needed was to give _them_ an excuse to torture him in the worst way. Weak ones are always spared just long enough to be toyed with each round before being mercilessly murdered once the fun runs out. He needed to be a pleasant medium in all aspects. Being too much of anything would prompt _them_ to throw awful shit his way. He needed to be quiet, stealthy, and just interesting and unpredictable enough to keep _them_ on their toes. Not a single move he is to make will be anything but calculated and carefully executed.

The siren abruptly ceases, returning the room to near silence apart from the light hum of the fluorescent lighting above. Unfortunately, the quiet only lasts for a few seconds. A deep voice that sounds as if it has been distorted through a voice modulator booms throughout the small, concrete room from an indistinguishable source.

“Welcome, Huang Renjun. After careful observation and a rigorous vetting process, you have been graciously selected to participate in The Gauntlet alongside six other contestants. Each individual has been hand selected by the Gamemakers because we believe you have something _special_ to provide. We hope, for Yangyang’s sake, that your time being a viewer has paid off. Good luck.”

An obnoxiously loud buzz pierces Renjun’s ears, causing him to place his hands over them until it stops. When it does, Renjun notices a light, which is encased in a sort of metal caging to protect it, is lit up a very bright green. It was almost brighter than the one overhead. Though Renjun knows this is meant to signal for him to go through the door, he takes a minute to wrap his head around things.

He knows he shouldn’t be surprised that they found out about Yangyang, but the thought of them knowing makes him tense. Though Renjun has never known of any prior incidences where the Gamemakers harm anyone who isn’t a participant, the fact he was brought up feels like a vague threat rather than them giving a proper reason for their well wishes. Maybe he was overthinking it. He wouldn’t be surprised if he was. As the announcer stated, there’s a rigorous vetting process. It was all but certain that these people would dig up every single detail about him that they could get their hands on; including information about Yangyang. It wouldn’t come as a shock to Renjun if they had followed him to one of his hospital visits while they were at it. Privacy was nonexistent the second Renjun had volunteered to be a part of The Gauntlet. He knew that. And that statement would be as true as ever now that his every move was being live streamed by an indeterminate amount of viewers.

Renjun finally gets onto his feet and approaches the door. He turns the frigid metal knob and opens it up to a large room with a round table in the center. Five men occupy the seats around it, leaving only two left for Renjun to choose from.

The seat furthest away from him resides between a man who appears very frightened and a man who maintains a deeply pensive expression as his eyes dart between Renjun and the empty seats. The terrified one’s hair is a sort of golden brown color and his facial features are soft and cute. It makes him look young. Very young. Renjun was confused as to why he was there, but he presumed that he must be _at least_ eighteen despite his appearance. The Gamemakers never allow minors to participate. The other man who sits to the left of the empty seat is darker complected than the others and is wearing a black turtleneck. He was quite stunning, but the growing frustration that he displays in his expression as he looks around makes him seem unapproachable.

The second chair resides directly across from the other, settled between a man with an incredibly confused expression and another who had turned his body around to stare at Renjun with one brow raised in intrigue. The latter eyes him up and down before a slight smirk crosses his face. The man was incredibly handsome and had a stunning smile, but something about the look in his eye causes a surge of discomfort to travel through Renjun’s body. He winks at him, and Renjun immediately evades his gaze to look at the confused man on the other side of the empty seat. He has prominent cheekbones and wears a dark zip up hoodie with the hood up. He rubs the back of his neck before setting his hands on the table in front of him and clearing his throat. A few of the other men look at him expectantly as if waiting for him to speak, but he doesn’t. He simply sits in silence.

Renjun cautiously steps through the door, making sure to close it behind him before proceeding to take up the seat between the younger, timid man and the one who looked like he was the least likely to try and talk to him or make him uncomfortable.

Just as Renjun sits down in the wooden chair, a door–which was just two down from where he had come through–thrashes open, and a man with pale blue hair stumbles out. His large hand is covered over his mouth, and he barely manages to reach the open chair before he starts gagging. He plops down into it and puts his head down, completely obscuring his face.

“You okay, man?” the one with the prominent cheekbones inquires.

“There...there was a rotting corpse in there,” he responds as he gags yet again.

Renjun feels his body suddenly turn to stone at the sound. It was so familiar, so distinct. He hadn’t just _heard_ that voice before...he _knew_ that voice.

The man lifts his head, and Renjun’s eyes widen in horror as their gazes lock on one another almost instantly. All of his suspicions are confirmed instantaneously the second Renjun finally gets a proper look at his perfectly sculpted face.

“Renjun…” the man whispers, though it’s still audible enough for everyone in the room to hear.

“Huh?” the man to Renjun’s left blurts out.

“You guys know each other?” the one who had eyed Renjun asks as he looks between the both of them.

Renjun quickly breaks eye contact and stares down at the empty space on the table in front of him.

“We uh...we went to the same high school,” the blue haired man states.

There’s a brief moment of quiet that ensues after this statement, and Renjun feels himself tense as he waits for someone to prod for more information. Thankfully, no one is able to ask any follow up questions before the conversation is redirected.

“Can we skip the stupid ass small talk and figure out what the hell is going on here? Because I’d like to know why they put us all in a room with no clear understanding of why we’re here doing absolutely _nothing_ ,” the one to Renjun’s left points out abrasively.

“Maybe it’s to introduce ourselves?” the man with prominent cheekbones suggests, “My name is Mark.”

Renjun wants to roll his eyes, but he decides to let the others waste their breath. It wasn’t his job to explain to them that this was just a waiting period between waking up and having the first elimination round. They can find out for themselves when the Gamemakers are ready to start. Besides, it’s not like knowing each other’s names even matters. Most of them will die, anyway.

“Donghyuck,” the man to Renjun’s left says as he keeps his eyes trained on Mark.

“Jaemin,” the man who winked at Renjun identifies himself.

“Chenle,” a man between Mark and Donghyuck speaks out.

“J-Jisung,” the timid one to Renjun’s right stammers.

“Jeno.”

Renjun lifts his gaze to meet with Jeno’s once more, and he begins to wonder why in the hell he was here. Renjun knows damn well that the Gamemakers brought him in for a reason, but surely that reason couldn’t possibly be the one he’s thinking of.

“What about you?” Donghyuck prompts Renjun, but rather than answer him, he crosses his arms and looks back down at the table.

“Weren’t you listening? Jeno said his name was Renjun,” Jaemin interjects with a roll of his eyes.

“Of course I wasn’t listening. I was busy trying to figure out why we’re not doing anything,” Donghyuck retorts.

“Well maybe you should pay more attention to your surroundings if you wanna survive this shitshow,” Jaemin fires back.

“Okay everyone just...calm down, please. The last thing we need is to start bickering,” Jeno thankfully silences the two.

“Well...we’ve already introduced ourselves. What do we do now?” Chenle questions, trying to get the discussion back on track.

“Maybe try to figure out why we were picked to be here?” Mark looks around at everyone.

“Are you assuming any of us have a single clue why we were abducted?” Jaemin counters flatly.

“I’m sure we all have a reason why a 100 million dollar prize is a tempting sum of money to be offered to us if we win,” Mark murmurs, “It only makes sense that we all have some sort of need for it.”

“I...um...I’m trying t-to get away from m-my family,” Jisung goes first.

“Why? What did they do?” Mark tilts his head slightly in curiosity.

“Th-they um...they don’t accept me,” he responds, “Or-um-they wouldn’t if they knew a-about…”

“You don’t mean…” Chenle starts, but his voice trails off.

“I-I don’t wanna talk ab-bout it,” Jisung dismisses him.

The room goes quiet for a moment as the heavy implications of what Jisung was trying to say sinks in.

“Well...I’m in university, and student debt is a bitch,” Mark states, trying to continue the conversation.

“I’ve got debt piling up, too,” Jaemin adds.

“Oh really? What for?” Donghyuck asks in a provoking manner.

“For reasons,” he replies coldly without explanation before turning to Jeno, “What about you?”

“I um...I actually don’t need the money,” Jeno speaks up, “Not that I couldn’t use it, I just...I don’t really have any specific problems I can pinpoint that makes me urgently need 100 million dollars.”

Every single set of eyes focuses on Jeno, but he doesn’t squirm at all the attention being on him due to his statement.

“Then why the fuck are you here?” Jaemin furrows his brow and throws his hands up.

“I don’t know,” he admits as his eyes rest on Renjun again.

“Bullshit,” Donghyuck says disbelievingly.

Though Renjun fully believes Jeno, he chooses to maintain his silence. It wasn’t his place to stand up for him and garner any unwanted attention on himself. Besides, he couldn’t help but consider some of the implications of why Jeno was actually there. The main theory that plagues his mind is how maybe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately for Jeno, he was now roped into a sinister game where he was all but certain not to survive.

A buzz–much like the one which signaled that Renjun’s door had been opened–now alerts the men that something had happened.

“What the fuck was that?” Jaemin shoots up from his seat and looks around.

Suddenly, several metallic clunking sounds occur simultaneously, and Renjun manages to locate the source of at least one of them. A panel on the wall–located just below the ceiling and between two of the doors–drops open, causing a rush of water to begin pouring out. Renjun leaps to his feet and checks the surrounding area to find that there were a total of about five of these vents all around the circular room in similar spots as the one he had initially seen. He tries to find some sort of indicator of an open door they could go through, but none of them have any lights or markings.

“Fuck!” Donghyuck screams as he and the others get up and seem to panic at the room filling with water.

“We need to find a way out,” Jeno states, “There’s gotta be an exit. Which one of these rooms did none of us come out of?”

“Mark was the first one in the room!” Chenle points at him.

“Fuck! I don’t know!” Mark cries, “I just know where I came from!”

“How about everyone goes to the door they came in through, and we narrow down which ones will lead to dead ends?” Jeno reasons.

“There’s no fucking time! The water is almost at our knees! By the time we figure it out, it’ll be waist-deep!” Jaemin argues.

“Yeah, but checking all the doors one by one will waste even more time!” Jeno hisses.

“We should listen to Jeno,” Jisung timidly interjects.

“I agree,” Mark adds.

“Then let’s hurry the fuck up, already!” Donghyuck snaps as he races for the door he came in through. The others quickly follow suit, and each man stands around the perimeter of the room.

Renjun instantly counts the doors and finds that there are four which aren’t occupied. With there being seven of them, he calculates that each door was ideally intended to split them up into three groups of two and leave one to remain on their own. Though a few other possibilities come to mind, the splitting up theory felt like the most valid since the Gamemakers typically prefer to initiate pairings early on before choosing how they’d like to switch things up. As for this room, there was a possibility of all of them making it out alive or going in through the same door, but something tells Renjun that it wasn’t quite that easy.

“Why the fuck are there only four doors?” Donghyuck asks.

“I...I don’t know. Either only one of them works, or they’re wanting us to go in pairs with one person being an outlier,” Jeno responds, causing Renjun to perk up and feel slightly taken aback. He was assessing the situation incredibly well, and Renjun couldn’t deny that it was a bit impressive how he was able to come to those conclusions so quickly.

“I’m sticking with Mark!” Donghyuck calls out without hesitation, confirming that he believed the latter theory.

“Then go through one of the doors to check,” Jeno instructs them, “And hurry!”

The two race over to the door on Renjun’s left and open it up to a dimly lit hallway. The water rushes through into the room, causing them both to be forced inside before the door suddenly slams shut on its own. Renjun’s eyebrows raise in surprise at the abrupt nature of its closing. It didn’t appear to be either man’s doing, and the door itself wasn’t hinged in a manner which would allow for the door to be shut by the water. Renjun goes to check it, but as he tries to open it again, the knob just jars rather than turns. He faces Jeno and shakes his head.

“Fuck! Okay. Jisung, Jaemin, go check that one,” he points to a door between the two of them.

Without having to be told twice, Jaemin opens it and finds yet another dimly lit hallway. They are rushed inside by the flood of water, and the door shuts automatically once more.

“Chenle, are you good to try that door to your right? You’ll be on your own, but do you think you’ll be okay?” Jeno asks as the water begins to reach his chest.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Chenle agrees.

“Renjun, I need you to come over to the door between us, okay?” Jeno says, but Renjun refuses to acknowledge him. Still, he complies despite every atom of his being begging for him not to be paired with Jeno.

Renjun has to practically swim to the door, and upon him and Jeno meeting halfway, they both turn to see if Chenle is able to go through.  
  
“It’s locked!” he screams as he struggles with the doorknob.

“Come with us!” Jeno instructs.

But the water level is rising faster and faster. Renjun begins to panic as Chenle struggles to swim to them. If they don’t leave now, they’ll _all_ die. Though Renjun heavily considers it, he refrains from opening the door, but as Chenle nears the two of them, he feels it suddenly give way on its own. The water sweeps him and Jeno into a hallway that looks exactly like the ones that the others had gone into, and just as expected, the door shuts. Renjun settles on the ground a long ways down the hall, and he spots Jeno not too far from where he is. Realizing that the water level was depleting fairly quickly, he finds that it’s being cleared out through drains that are built into the ground on either side of the hallway, ensuring that the flooding doesn’t travel too far or get too high.

Renjun is startled out of his observational state by the sound of loud, aggressive pounding at the metal door. Before it registers what it was, Jeno leaps to his feet and bounds back down the hall.

“Chenle!” he cries out as he grabs at the doorknob and violently jars it.

Renjun knew it was useless. If the door hadn’t opened, all three of them would have been doomed to a watery grave. The Gamemakers had decided to separate them from Chenle, and now...all they could do was be thankful that they wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

Renjun watches on as Jeno struggles to get the door open, even doing so much as screaming at him to help, but Renjun stands still. Waiting. Soon enough, the pounding on the door grows weaker and less frequent until it silences altogether.

“No!” Jeno screeches in horror as he slams his fist against the door, “Chenle!”

But there’s no response.

Jeno turns on his heel and shoots Renjun an intense glare that bores holes into his soul.

“Why the fuck aren’t you doing anything?” he bellows as his fists ball up in anger.

Renjun doesn’t grace him with an answer. Instead, he just shakes his head and faces the other way before walking onward. Chenle was a dead man the second Jeno decided to pair with Renjun and leave him to be on his own. There was nothing they could do, and Jeno needed to accept that. It was too late for Chenle, but they could still save themselves. And that’s exactly what Renjun intended to do.


End file.
